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I have been buying and dealing with PCH for more than 20 years. Tells people your chances are better if you buy something. I learned from all these years buying from PCH that this is not true at all. Ive never heard of them putting things in your cart you didnt order.
Government regulation and legal actions
Or that doing so would improve their chances of winning a prize. In addition to the $18.5 million being refunded to customers, Publishers Clearing House will also have to display clear disclosures on its website that inform customers their purchases are not needed to win or increase their chances of winning a sweepstakes. The FTC alleged Publishers Clearing House tricked customers into making purchases by using “dark patterns”—design practices that manipulate consumers into making potentially harmful or uninformed decisions. As a result of a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit, Publishers Clearing House (PCH) has agreed to a proposed court order will require it to pay $18.5 million to consumers who spent money and wasted their time, and make substantial changes to how it conducts business online. The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers. The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize.
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The non-governmental Identity Theft Resource Center identified a 240% increase last year in scams pretending to represent PCH. In 2015, the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency awarded Publishers and its landlord, The We’Re Group, millions of dollars in tax breaks to keep the company’s headquarters and its more than 400 jobs in the county as part of a $37 million redevelopment project. The actual math of bookselling is complicated since royalty rates vary by format, price points can fluctuate, and big publishers have different distribution deals from small ones. That said, I’ll do a bit of simplistic napkin math to explain. For comparison’s sake, there were 825 million movie tickets sold in the U.S. and Canada in 2023. So, more books are purchased than movie tickets, two comparable entertainment options in terms of price.
Publishers Clearing House, LLC (PCH), FTC v.
Publishers Clearing House Class Actions Claim Subscribers Didn't Know Personal Information Sold to Advertisers - Top Class Actions
Publishers Clearing House Class Actions Claim Subscribers Didn't Know Personal Information Sold to Advertisers.
Posted: Fri, 03 Dec 2021 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Don't pay anyone who contacts you and promises you a refund but asks you to pay a fee or attempts to obtain your personal information. If you believe you are eligible for a refund, there is nothing you need to do. When we have more information about the refund program, we will post updates here and provide information directly to consumers who are eligible for a refund. PCH didn't return a request for comment on the settlement or allegations by press time. Publishers Clearing House is accused of selling names, addresses and purchasing information, along with demographic information such as age. The lead plaintiffs each want to represent a Class of Illinois, South Dakota, Puerto Rico, Ohio, and California residents who had their names appear on a mailing list that was sold, rented, or offered for sale by PCH.
Playing it Safe: Explore the FTC's Top Video Game Cases
On the other hand, that’s “new movies in theaters” vs. “all books available for sale from throughout history.” Movies are vastly more expensive to make, so far fewer movies are released each year than books are published. Individual movies are watched far more than most individual books are read. The FTC also said the company claims sweepstakes entries are incomplete even when they are not. These allegations from FTC also affect Utahns who have been misled by PCH’s sweepstakes drawings. The FTC’s emphasis on PCH’s use of dark patterns is the latest manifestation of a recent trend, with the Commission having issued guidance on the topic last year, and having incorporated the concept into several recent complaints.
Publishers Clearing House to Pay Consumers $18.5M for Misleading Business Practices, FTC Says
On top of paying $18.5 million, which the F.T.C. said it would use to refund customers, the company agreed to adjust its interface to prevent more confusion. Scams using the Publishers Clearing House name have gained significant attention from government entities. Postal Service have both published alerts informing consumers about signs of scams using Publishers Clearing House’s name.
FTC Announces Enforcement Action Against Publishers Clearing House for Use of Dark Patterns and CAN-SPAM Violations
He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post. "The integrity of our sweepstakes prizes and awards was never questioned. We worked hard to address any issues the FTC raised," Publishers Clearing House said. Christina Ianzito is the travel and books editor for aarp.org and AARP The Magazine, and also edits and writes health, entertainment and other stories for aarp.org. She received a 2020 Lowell Thomas Award for travel writing. Report sweepstakes and other scams to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. When can we expect to see a refund of our money we spent over the years??
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My point is that “average book sales” tell you almost nothing about, say, how well the average novel published by a big press, and widely available in bookstores, sells. (To be fair, this also means that the billion-plus number above includes lots of things we wouldn’t normally think of as books.) I went into greater depth about book stats here. According to the FTC, the company has agreed to settle the charges it violated and turn over $18.5 million to the FTC to be used to refund consumers as well as make changes to its operations. When users click on the link to “complete” the final step, they are sent through pages and pages of dark patterns and deceptive sales pitches. According to FTC, the deception begins at the company’s homepage, where customers complete an “Official Entry Form” with a large button with phrasing like “WIN IT!
Publishers Clearing House to pay $18.5 million settlement for deceptive sweepstakes practices
I told them they would have to pay the shipping and they said keep it. We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them.
If you believe you are eligible for a refund with PHC, there is nothing you need to do, and FTC will post updates as well as inform consumers directly that they are eligible for a refund. “Any prize that requires you to pay first to receive your prize is a scam,” MCSO posted on Facebook. Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday.
So, some small-press editors might be happy with 1,000 sales. You might think that only 50 percent of books making money for the publisher is a bad thing, but most comparable industries operate this way. In entertainment, a few big winners have always funded the rest. Publishers Clearing House is facing a class action lawsuit related to its sale of names, addresses and purchasing information along with demographic information such as age of those on its mailing list. Further, plaintiffs argue the practice of selling or renting the mailing lists is not only unlawful but also puts the exposed customers’ at risk of identity fraud or of being targeted in some way. As part of the settlement, PCH will pay $18.5 million to compensate affected customers, though the FTC has not announced how the money will be disbursed and at the time of publication had not responded to requests for comment on this point.
Its pretty OBVIOUSLY a scam to sell product, but a local guy did win here about 10 yrs ago. We are SO GULLABLE nowadays we BELIEVE ANYTHING without Vetting 1st. NOBODY bothers to check things out even with all the internet at our fingertips. I have been ordering from publisher clearing house since around 1989. I finally stopped dealing with them all together.They are SCAMMERS. Remember, the FTC never asks you to pay or share personal information to receive a refund.
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